Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Melbourne
*** Shopping-Tip: Melbourne
{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox Australian City|
name = Melbourne |
image_map = Melbourne locator-MJC.png |
name = Melbourne |
latd=37|latm=49|latNS=S|longd=144|longm=58|longEW=E|
jurisdiction =
Victoria (Australia) Victoria |
area = 7,694 |
time_zone=
UTC10 AEST |
utc_offset= +10 |
time_zone_DST=
UTC11 AEDT |
utc_offset_DST= +11 |
population_estimate_year = 2006 |
population_estimate = 3,720,000 |
population_estimate_rank = 2nd |
population_density = 462.1 |
}}
'''Melbourne''' is the
List of Australian capital cities state capital and largest city in the
Australian
States and territories of Australia state of
Victoria (Australia) Victoria, and the second-largest city in Australia (after
Sydney), with a population of approximately 3.8 million (2006 estimate) in the Melbourne metropolitan area and 69,670 in the
City of Melbourne (which covers only the central city area). Melbourne is the southernmost city in the world with a population over one million people. The city's name is
IPA chart for English pronounced as either {{IPA|/ˈmel.bən/}} or {{IPA|/ˈmæl.bən/}}. Melbourne was the capital city of Australia from 1901 until 1927.
Melbourne is home to Australia's three largest corporations,
Telstra,
BHP Billiton and the
National Australia Bank. It is also home to the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the majority of companies listed on the
Australian Stock Exchange.
Melbourne is also home to some of Australia's biggest sports events including: the
Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival (including the 'race that stops the nation', the
Melbourne Cup), the
Australian Grand Prix Australian Formula One Grand Prix, the
Australian Open and the
AFL Grand Final. Melbourne hosted the first
Olympic Games in the southern hemisphere in
1956 Summer Olympics 1956, as well as the recent
2006 Commonwealth Games.
Melbourne has twice [http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/06/1075854028808.html shared top position] in a survey by ''
The Economist'' of ''
The World's Most Livable Cities'' on the basis of its cultural attributes,
climate,
cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, once in 2002 {{ref|liveable}}, and again in 2004. The US's
Utne Reader puts it thus: "Add a long tradition of civic pride, communities of new immigrants from around the world, and the best food in Australia, and you have a recipe for what many claim is the hippest city in the Southern Hemisphere" (Nov/Dec 2001).
Melbourne has undergone a major urban 'revival', such that it is sometimes classed as being in a second tier of "
world city world cities"; the
World city#GaWC Inventory of World Cities GaWC study group in the UK ranks Melbourne, on the basis of relative availability of specialised "advanced services," as a minor (or Gamma) "
world city" comparable with cities such as
Montreal,
Osaka, and
Prague. It has one of the highest numbers of international students studying in its universities, after
London,
New York City, and
Paris.
A resident of Melbourne is referred to as a Melburnian.
History
{{main|History of Melbourne}}
{{main|Timeline of Melbourne history}}
Image:Landing at melbourne 1840.jpg thumb|340px|Melbourne Landing, 1840; watercolour by W. Liardet (1840)
The city was named after the
United Kingdom British Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, whose home was near the village of
Melbourne, Derbyshire Melbourne in
Derbyshire. Melbourne in Derbyshire derives its name from the
Old English language Old English for "mill stream" (''mylla burne'').
The European settlement at Melbourne was founded in 1835 by settlers coming from
Tasmania (then known as
Van Diemen's Land), where they had difficulty finding available land.
The area was already inhabited by the
Kulin people, then
Indigenous Australians indigenous to the area (although many people argue that they are still the true owners of the area, though this is not recognised by law). A transaction was negotiated for 600,000 acres of land from eight of their representatives; this was later annulled by the
New South Wales government (then governing all of eastern mainland Australia), who compensated the settlers in exchange. Ultimately, settlement continued regardless [http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/info.cfm?top=52&pg=703].
It was the capital first of the
Port Phillip District of New South Wales and then of the separate colony of Victoria. With the discovery of
gold in Victoria in the 1850s, leading to the
Victorian gold rush, Melbourne quickly grew as a port and service centre. Later it became Australia's leading manufacturing centre. During the 1880s, Melbourne was the second largest city in the
British Empire, and came to be known as "Marvellous Melbourne".
Victorian architecture abounds in Melbourne and today the city is home to the largest number of surviving
Victorian era buildings of any city in the world other than
London.
Melbourne became Australia's
List of historical national capitals national capital at
Federation of Australia Federation on
1 January 1901. The first Federal
Australian Parliament parliament was opened on
9 May of that year in the
Royal Exhibition Building. The seat of government and the national capital remained in Melbourne until 1927 when it moved to the new capital city of
Canberra. Melbourne continued to expand steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century. It became the Allied Pacific Headquarters for a time from 1942 to 1944 as General
Douglas MacArthur established Australia as a launch base for Pacific operations. During
World War II Melbourne industries flourished and expanded with war time production. This set Melbourne on a course for significant post war expansion. Particularly with the post-
World War II influx of
Immigration to Australia immigrants and the prestige of hosting the
1956 Summer Olympics Olympic Games in 1956. Even after the national capital moved to Canberra, Melbourne remained Australia's business and finance capital until the 1970s, when it began to lose this primacy to
Sydney. Melbourne also developed as a centre of the arts.
After a boom in the 1980s Melbourne experienced a largely property market and manufacturing driven slump from 1989 to 1992, with a loss of employment and a drain of population to
New South Wales and
Queensland. In the 1990s, the Victorian state government of
Premiers of Victoria Premier Jeff Kennett (
Liberal Party of Australia Liberal) sought to reverse this trend with the aggressive development of new public buildings, such as the
Melbourne Museum,
Federation Square, the
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre (nicknamed "Jeff's Shed"),
Crown Casino, capital works (most notably the City Link tollway), the selling of state assets (the State Electricity Commission and redundant state schools), the pruning back of state services and the publicising of Melbourne's merits both to outsiders and Melburnians. This has continued under the government of current Premier
Steve Bracks (
Australian Labor Party Labor). Since 1997, Melbourne has maintained significant population and employment growth. Furthermore, there has been substantial international investment in the city's industries and property market. 2006 figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that since 2000 Melbourne has sustained the highest population and economic growth rate of any Australian city.
Geography
Image:Melbourne_map.png thumb|right|250px|Map of greater Melbourne
=Natural Geography
=
Melbourne is located in the south-eastern corner of
mainland Australia, and is the southernmost mainland capital city. Geologically it is built on the confluence of
Quaternary lava flows to the west,
Silurian mudstones to the east and
Holocene sand accumulation to the southeast along
Port Phillip, its suburbs sprawling to the east, following the
Yarra River out to the
Yarra Ranges Yarra and
Dandenong Ranges, south-east to the mouth of the bay, and following the
Maribyrnong River and its tributaries west and north to flat farming country. The
central business district (the original city) is laid out in the famous
mile-by-half-a-mile
Melbourne central business district Hoddle Grid, its southern edge fronting on to the Yarra.
=Urban Geography
=
Melbourne is typical of
Australian Capital Cities in that it was built with the underlying notion of a "single acre home and
garden". As such, much of
Metropolitan Melbourne is characterised by low density sprawl.
Furthermore, the provision of an extensive
railway and
tram service in the earlier years of development encouraged this
low density development to occur in radial lines following the
transport corridors. The result is today's Melbourne - one of the world's largest cities in terms of physical size or
urban footprint.
Parks and gardens
{{main|Melbourne parks and gardens}}
Melbourne is often referred to as Australia's garden city, and the state of Victoria is officially known as 'the garden state'. There is an abundance of
parks and
gardens close to the
Melbourne Central Business District CBD with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree lined avenues. There are also many parks in the surrounding suburbs of Melbourne, such as in the cities of
Stonnington and
Booroondara, south east of the CBD.
Climate
Melbourne has a
temperate climate under the
Köppen climate classification system.
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 75%; margin: 0 auto 0 auto;"
|+ '''Climate Table'''
|-
!
! Jan
! Feb
! Mar
! Apr
! May
! Jun
! Jul
! Aug
! Sep
! Oct
! Nov
! Dec
!Year
|-
! Mean daily maximum temperature (
Celsius °C)
|25.8
|25.8
|23.8
|20.2
|16.6
|14.0
|13.4
|14.9
|17.2
|19.6
|21.8
|24.1
|19.8
|-
! Mean daily minimum temperature (
Celsius °C)
|14.2
|14.5
|13.1
|10.7
|8.6
|6.9
|5.9
|6.6
|7.9
|9.4
|11.1
|12.8
|10.1
|-
! Mean total rainfall (
Millimetre mm)
|48.2
|47.0
|50.6
|58.2
|56.6
|49.8
|47.9
|50.3
|58.7
|67.4
|59.3
|59.1
|653.2
|-
! Mean number of rain days
|8.3
|7.4
|9.3
|11.5
|14.0
|14.2
|15.1
|15.6
|14.8
|14.3
|11.8
|10.5
|146.7
|-
| colspan="15" style="text-align: center;" |
'''Source:''' [http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_086071.shtml Bureau of Meteorology]
|}
Governance
The
Melbourne City Council governs only the
City of Melbourne, which takes in the CBD and a few adjoining inner suburbs. However the head of the Melbourne City Council, the
Lord Mayor of Melbourne, is frequently treated as a representative of greater Melbourne (the entire metropolitan area), particularly when interstate or overseas. The current Lord Mayor is
John So.
The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into 30 municipalities, all of which are styled as cities except for five on the city's outer fringes which are styled as shires (see a list of these at
Local Government Areas of Victoria). These municipalities all have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions delegated to them by the Victorian state government. These include planning, rubbish collection, beaches, parks and gardens, child-care and preschool facilities, local festivals and cultural activities, services to the elderly, supervision of public health, sanitation and similar matters. Councils levy rates from their residents to pay for these services. The councils are collectively represented by the
Local Government Association of Victoria.
Melbourne's overwhelming dominance of the state of Victoria's population and economy means the
government of Victoria Victorian state government is also effectively the city government of greater Melbourne. Most city-wide government activities are controlled by the state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because three quarters of Victoria's population lives in Melbourne, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of city-wide governmental bodies, which would tend to create a rival to the state government. For this reason the
Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, which had become a powerful semi-autonomous authority, was abolished in 1992.
Economy
image:melb_cbd.jpg right|thumb|250px|The central business district of Melbourne, viewed from the Observation Deck at Rialto Tower
Melbourne is a large
Commerce commercial and
Industry industrial centre. Many of Australia's largest companies have their headquarters there, and many
multinational corporations (approximately one-third of the 100 largest multinationals operating in Australia as of 2002), have their main Australian office there. The peak body representing workers in Australia, the
Australian Council of Trade Unions, is also headquartered in Melbourne.
Melbourne is home to Australia's largest
seaport and much of Australia's
Automaker automotive industry (including the
engine manufacturing facility of
Holden and the
Ford Motor Company Ford and
Toyota manufacturing facilities), in addition to many other
manufacturing industries.
Most major infrastructure projects are generally centred on the
2006 Commonwealth Games, which were held in the city from March 15 - 26, 2006. Such projects include the
Australian Dollar $AUD700 million
Southern Cross Station redevelopment, including a $350 million world-class transport interchange facility with $350 million also set aside for office accommodation, residential towers and hotel and also a retail plaza. The project was set for completion in early 2006, before the start of the Games. At the centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games projects was the redevelopment project for the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, the stadium set for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games. At a cost of $434 million the project involves reconstructing the old Olympic and Ponsford stands. In 2006, Melbourne will play host to the summit of
G20 industrial nations G20 finance ministers.
In February 2006 a $1 billion (AUD) project was announced to build a 5000 seat international convention centre, Hilton Hotel and commercial precinct adjacent to the
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre with construction to commence in May 2006 and complete in February 2009. This will provide a final linkage of development along the Yarra River, linking the
Crown Casino to the multi-billion dollar Docklands redevelopment.
Image:Melbourne_yarra_twilight.jpg centre|thumb|550px|A view of the Yarra River at twilight, with Melbourne's central business district (left) and Southbank (right) pictured.
Demographics
Today Melbourne is one of the world's most diverse and multicultural cities. Almost a quarter of Victoria's population was born overseas and come from 233 countries, speak over 180 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths. As the capital city, Melbourne has over time become a large urban centre and the home to around 80% of the state's population.
Population History
Image:Melbourne Docklands - Yarras Edge - marina panorama.jpg 600px|thumb|right|A panorama of the Melbourne skyline.
Image:1131505360-12805-bg-h67qg.jpg right|thumb|600px|A view of Melbourne Docklands from the Observation Deck at Rialto Tower.
Melbourne's population exploded during the 1850s'
Australian gold rush gold rush. From 20,000 inhabitants in 1851, an additional 15,000 arrived almost overnight with the discovery of
gold in August 1852 {{ref.html">Depression (economics)
economic depression hit Melbourne's overleveraged economy with particular savagery. Much of Melbourne's population loss during the 1890s was the result of the unemployed moving west seeking gold, or, employment in the burgeoning industries stimulated by gold. As a consequence property prices took decades to recover.
The need for a population increase and a labour force saw many
United Kingdom British,
Yugoslav,
Netherlands Dutch,
Germany German,
Arab and
Maltese migrants arrive in 1945 after the devastation of their homelands in
World War II. Large numbers from
Italy and
Greece arrived in the 1950s and 1960s, to become the largest groups after those from Britain and
Ireland. Melbourne has one of the world's largest population of people with Greek ancestry outside of Greece and Cyprus. The 2001 Census recorded 161.000 Greeks in Melbourne of which 57.000 were born in Greece.
Refugees from
Cambodia and
Vietnam made Melbourne their home in the 1970s and 1980s and were joined by people from
India, the
Philippines and
Malaysia. Melbourne also boasts the largest
Jewish community in Oceania, whereby more than half the total number of Jews in Australia live in Melbourne (more than 50 000). (See
History of the Jews in Australia Judaism in Australia). The newest wave of immigrants comes from North
Africa, particularly
Sudan.
Although
Brisbane and
Perth, Western Australia Perth are growing faster in percentage terms, and Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division has grown by approximately 50,000 people a year since 2003, more than any other Australian city. Attraction of a large proportion of overseas immigrants and interstate migration from Sydney due to ''more'' affordable housing are two recent key factors. In recent years,
Melton, Victoria Melton,
City of Wyndham Wyndham and
City of Casey Casey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, have recorded the highest growth rate of all
local government areas in Australia.
Melbourne Population by Year:
{{col-begin}}
{{col-3}}
* 1836: 177
* 1851: 20,000
* 1854: 300,800 (gold rush)
* 1860: 500,000
* 1895: 900,000
{{col-3}}
* 1956: 1,500,000
* 1981: 2,806,000
* 1991: 3,156,700
* 2001: 3,366,542
* 2004: 3,592,975
{{col-3}}
* 2006: 3,720,300 (preliminary estimate 2006 census)
* 2030: 4,500,000 (projected)
{{col-end}}
{|
| width="50%" valign="top" |
Melbourne is a sprawling metropolis.
Melbourne's population density declined following World War II, with the private motor car and the lure of house and land extending the suburbs, mainly to the east. After much discussion (both at general public and planning levels) in the 1980s the decline has actually been reversed since the early 1990s (when hit by a property market collapse that was facilitated by a recession), and the city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the late 1990's there has been a substantial rise in high rise apartment construction within 2 km radius of the central business district. The Victorian government's
Melbourne 2030 policy has introduced an artificial
urban growth boundary to further curtail the
urban sprawl.
| valign="top" |
Overall urban density (people/ha) by year:
* 1951 23.4 Melb. Metro. Planning Scheme 1954, p. 23
* 1961 21.4 Australian Bureau of Statistics
* 1971 18.1 A.B.S.
* 1976 16.75 Melbourne Social Atlas, 1976 (A.B.S.)
* 1981 15.9 Social Atlas, 1981
* 1986 16.05 Soc. Atlas/"Supermap" Census Data, 1986
* 1991 16.8 Social Atlas/Supermap, 1991
* 1996 17.9 Department of Infrastructure, 1998
|}
Education
{{further|
List of schools in Victoria}}
Melbourne is seen as an international educational hub, with many students from
Hong Kong,
Singapore,
Korea,
India,
Malaysia,
China and other parts of Asia choosing to study at one of the city's many high schools and universities. Melbourne's two most notable tertiary institutions are the
University of Melbourne and
Monash University. They are both members of the
Group of Eight (Australian universities) Group of Eight, a lobby group including the most prestigious
university universities in Australia. Both are also highly ranked among the best universities in the world by ''
The Times Higher Education Supplement'' which also included two other Melbourne-based institutions in its top 100,
La Trobe University and
RMIT University. Several other universities are also located in Melbourne, including
Deakin University,
Swinburne University of Technology,
Victoria University of Technology and the St Patrick's campus of the
Australian Catholic University.
Melbourne has numerous
Public school government high schools. Two schools,
*
Melbourne High School
*
MacRobertson Girls High School
hold the distinction of being Melbourne's only selective entry Public High Schools. Some other prominent Public High Schools are:
*
University High School
*
Balwyn High School
The most academically successful
independent school independent schools based upon 2005
VCE results are:
*
Camberwell Anglican Girls' Grammar School
*
St Kevin's College
*
Mount Scopus Memorial College
*
Presbyterian Ladies' College
*
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School
*
Camberwell Grammar School
*
Methodist Ladies' College
*
Ruyton Grammar School
*
Scotch College
*
Genazzano F.C.J. College
*
Melbourne Grammar School
*
Caulfield Grammar School
*
Fintona Girls' School
*
Lauriston Girls' School
*
Carey Baptist Grammar School
Other notable Melbourne
independent school independent schools include:
*
Xavier College
*
Melbourne Grammar School
*
Wesley College, Melbourne Wesley College
A majority of the oldest schools in Melbourne belong to the
Associated Public Schools of Victoria and
Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria associations.
Culture
Sport
:''See also:
Sport in Victoria''
image:mcg_internal_odi_medium.jpg Cricket.html"_title="Meaning of right right|thumb|250px|[[Cricket_at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG. The old Members Stand, in the centre background, has now been demolished..html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|[[Cricket">right|thumb|250px|[[Cricket at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG. The old Members Stand, in the centre background, has now been demolished.">thumb|250px|[[Cricket">right|thumb|250px|[[Cricket at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG. The old Members Stand, in the centre background, has now been demolished.
In a country that is often labelled as 'sports-mad', Melbourne has a reputation amongst Australians as being 'sports-mad' and holds the undeniable title of the sporting capital of Australia [http://www.pm.gov.au/news/speeches/speech769.html], if not sports capital of the world.
Melbourne is where
Australian rules football originated, and it still the most popular sport in Victoria. The city is home to nine of the sixteen teams in the
Australian Football League (AFL), whose five Melbourne games per week attract an average 35,000 people per game. The
AFL Grand Final, one of the biggest sporting events in Australia, is played on the last weekend in September at the world famous
Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), a massive arena that has held up to 120,000 spectators. The city also is home to nine out of thirteen teams in the professional state-wide
Victorian Football League which also includes a team representing the state of
Tasmania.
=Major Sports Venues
=
As well as the MCG, Melbourne is home to over 29 stadiums with a capacity of over 10,000 people. Some venues, such as the Albert Park Formula 1 track and Calder Raceway have large capacities but only temporary structures, whilst there are many large suburban horse racing tracks and Australian rules ovals. While many large suburban Australian rules venues, such as
Waverley Park have been retired as blockbuster games have been moved to the bigger venues, some AFL clubs continue to use them as training and administration bases or used as multi-purpose venues.
The city also has large State Cycling, Hockey, Baseball/Softball and Netball centres and an Ice centre (Australian Olympic Winter Institute) is being constructed in
Melbourne Docklands. A new
AUD$100 million, 20,000-seat multi-purpose rectangular stadium is currently under construction in Melbourne Park.
=International Sporting Events
=
The city has hosted several major international sporting events. Annually, Melbourne hosts the
Australian Open tennis tournament, one of the four
Grand Slam (tennis) Grand Slam tournaments; the famous
Melbourne Cup Horse-racing horse race; the 'Boxing Day' cricket
Test cricket test match held each year from 26–30 December at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground; and the
Australian Grand Prix Australian Formula One Grand Prix. The
Australian national rugby union team Wallabies, Australia's national
rugby union team, usually also play at least one Test annually at Melbourne's
Telstra Dome. Since 1999, the city has been the biennual host of the
International Rules series involving
Gaelic football players from the
Gaelic Athletic Association of
Ireland. The city also hosted the 2002 and 2005
Australian Football International Cup.
Since the
1956 Summer Olympics were held in Melbourne, the city has hosted numerous sporting events which rotate host cities. Melbourne co-hosted the
2003 Rugby Union World Cup, including many pool matches as well as a quarter final – all of which were played at the Telstra Dome; hosted the
2002 World Masters Games; broke new ground as the first city outside the
United States to host the
World Police and Fire Games in
1995 in sports 1995, and the
President's Cup golf tournament in
1999 in sports 1999; and was the first city in the
Southern Hemisphere to host the World Cup
Polo Championship in
2001 in sports 2001. The city has hosted
FIFA World Cup qualifiers in both 1997 and 2001. Most recently, the
2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne. Seventy-one Commonwealth nations competed in the Games.
==Current and Future Events
==
In
2007 in sports 2007, Melbourne will be the host of the
FINA World Championships FINA World Aquatics Championships. Melbourne will host the
Australia national football (soccer) team Australia vs
Greece football (soccer) match in May 2006 at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground which will be followed by two significant World Cup qualifiers in 2008 and 2009.
In December 2006, the 100th Cricket test to be played at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground will form part of
The Ashes series. It is anticipated that as many as 40,000 Britons will visit Australia for this much anticipated event.
Media
{{main|Melbourne media}}
Melbourne has two major daily newspapers, ''
The Age'' and ''
The Herald Sun'', as well as the free afternoon tabloid ''
MX (newspaper) mX''. There are three commercial
television channels: the
Seven Melbourne Seven,
GTV-9 Nine and
ATV-10 Ten networks — and three public channels:
ABC television ABC,
Special Broadcasting Service SBS, and a
community television channel,
Channel 31 Melbourne.
Melbourne has a wide range of
radio stations and is the base for the Australia-wide
Austereo and Southern Cross Broadcasting networks.
3AW is consistently the city's highest-rating commercial radio station. Melbourne also boasts a number of community radio stations, of which the best known are
Syn907,
3RRR and
3PBS.
The Arts
image:ngv.jpg right|thumb|250px|The National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne has a large and vibrant
arts and
Culture cultural life.
Annuals arts celebrations include the
Melbourne Arts Festival, the
Melbourne Fringe Festival, the
Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the
Melbourne International Film Festival, the Melbourne Fashion Festival, the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, The Gay and Lesbian Midsumma Festival and
Moomba.
Melbourne is the home of the
Australian Ballet Company Australian Ballet and the second home of
Opera Australia. The
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is highly regarded both at home and internationally.
Melbourne was strongly associated with the establishment of Australia's visual arts. The
Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century centred in Melbourne. It was largely the work of Melbourne-based artists, and was arguably the first distinctly Australian art movement (in the Western canon, at least). Many of its most significant works hang in the
National Gallery of Victoria, which has one of Australia's top collections of visual art, particularly early Australian western-tradition art.
Several professional theatre companies operate in Melbourne, of which the
Melbourne Theatre Company has the most institutional support of any in Australia, and there is a wide range of smaller companies, including Malthouse and Red Stitch Actors Theatre.
Melbourne's lively rock and pop music scene has fostered many internationally renowned artists and musicians. The 1960's gave rise to many performers including
Olivia Newton John,
John Farnham, Graeme Bell, and 1960's folk group
The Seekers. The 1970's gave rise to many acts getting their first big breaks on Melbourne's
Countdown (music show) including
AC/DC, and
Nick Cave; whilst
INXS and
Crowded House are among many who emerged during the 1980's. In recent years,
Jet (band) Jet, Taxiride (band), as well as female singers such as
Kylie Minogue,
Dannii Minogue,
Natalie Imbruglia,
Vanessa Amorosi,
Madison Avenue (band) and
Kate Ceberano have enjoyed great international success.
Melbourne is home to a large
Australian hip hop scene, generally known as "Melburn" or "The Burn" throughout the unique sub-culture.
Obese Records, a leading Australian Hip Hop recording label, was founded in 1995 in Melbourne and is located in
Prahran, Victoria Prahran, just off the famous
Chapel Street. Melbourne is home to a gritty style of home grown Hip Hop and is home to artists such as
Lyrical Commission,
Muphin,
Reason and
Pegz. Live shows constantly occur in the city with open-mic contests and performances by up-and-coming artists held throughout the week at different locations.
The dance music scene in Melbourne is large and lively. There are dance parties happening almost every night of the year, frequently attracting some of the world's best DJs to the city. Some of the biggest nightclubs in the world are based in Melbourne, including the Melbourne Metro Nightclub (2500 capacity) and QBH (2100 capacity). The
Melbourne Shuffle, a style of dance, had its birth here, and has been evolving ever since.
Melbourne in culture
Image:Melbourne at night.jpg thumb|250px|right|Melbourne by night
Image:Melbourne_yarra_afternoon.jpg thumb|right|250px|Melbourne as seen from south-east side along the Yarra River.
Melbourne has been the setting for many
novels,
television dramas, and films.
Fergus Hume's international best-seller ''
Mystery of a Hansom Cab'', which outsold the
Sherlock Holmes stories at the time, was set in Melbourne of the Gold Rush era.
Frank Hardy's ''
Power Without Glory'' tells the story of Melbourne businessman John West (based on the real-life
John Wren) and is set in a thinly-disguised
Collingwood, a Melbourne working-class suburb. Perhaps the best-known novel internationally is
Nevil Shute's novel ''
On the Beach''. In 1959, it was made into a film directed by
Stanley Kramer, and starring
Gregory Peck,
Ava Gardner and
Anthony Perkins. The film depicted the denizens of Melbourne quietly slipping off into eternity as the last victims of a global nuclear holocaust. Filmed on location in and around Melbourne (a great novelty for Melbourne at the time), it is perhaps best remembered for a comment attributed to Ava Gardner (who denied it), describing Melbourne as 'the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world', commenting on the dreary conservatism of Melbourne in the late 1950s. The purported quote was invented by journalist Neil Jillett. Similar filming was undertaken when a 2000
television movie remake was produced.
In recent years, many more films have been made in Melbourne. Some of the more famous include ''
Mad Max'', ''
Chopper (movie) Chopper'', ''
Romper Stomper'', featuring a young
Russell Crowe as a terrifying Melburnian
skinhead;
Jackie Chan's ''
Mr. Nice Guy'' and ''
The Castle (movie) The Castle''. Melbourne has also produced many talented film and television actors including
Cate Blanchett,
Guy Pearce,
Geoffrey Rush and
Eric Bana.
Perhaps better known to a contemporary audience is the smash-hit
soap opera ''
Neighbours'', set in the fictional eastern suburb of Erinsborough, which presents a 'whitebread' microcosm of suburban Australian life. Other contemporary television shows set in Melbourne include ''
Stingers'' (a police drama), ''
The Secret Life Of Us'', ''
Kath and Kim'', ''
Prisoner (TV series) Prisoner'' also known as ''
Cell Block H'', ''
Halifax FP'',and ''
MDA (television) MDA''.
Singer
Paul Kelly (musician) Paul Kelly has written several well-known songs about aspects of the city close to the heart of many Melburnians, notably "Leaps And Bounds" and "From St Kilda To King's Cross", while
Skyhooks also wrote some more tongue in cheek songs about Melbourne. "Balwyn Calling", "Carlton (Lygon Street Limbo)" and "Toorak Cowboy" are examples. Melbourne has produced many popular international vocalists and singers including 1900's soprano
Dame Nellie Melba, who took her name from her native city.
Melbourne-born satirist
Barry Humphries created his main character
Dame Edna Everage as a comedic version of a suburban
homemaker. Through her he has performed cutting odes to Melbourne mores and the
middle class suburbs of
Moonee Ponds, Victoria Moonee Ponds and
Highett, Victoria Highett, among others.
Carols by Candlelight, first held in 1938, is a
Christmas Eve tradition held annually at the
Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
Transport
Image:Hitxtrapfss.jpg Connex Melbourne.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|180px|Two [[Connex Melbourne-operated trains at
Flinders Street Station..html" title="Meaning of right|180px|Two [[Connex Melbourne">thumb|right|180px|Two [[Connex Melbourne-operated trains at
Flinders Street Station.">right|180px|Two [[Connex Melbourne">thumb|right|180px|Two [[Connex Melbourne-operated trains at
Flinders Street Station.
{{main|Transport in Melbourne}}
Melbourne is served with an extensive
public transport network. Like many major cities in the world, Melbourne has an integrated public transport system, however some of its outlying suburbs still face transport difficulties. It has one of the world's most extensive
Trams in Melbourne tram networks, one of the only tram systems in Australia. Visitors are served by a free City Circle Tram, taking in many tourist sights. There are almost 300
bus routes and a
train system with more than 15 lines. Since privatisation of the rail network, commuters often complain of cancellations and delays. Whilst excuses for poor performance may not be as outrageous as British Rail's infamous "leaves on the track", delays have been attributed to everything from burst water pipes (2005 incident stranding 30,000 commuters when 20-year old Metrol control centre was flooded, with no backup facility), to a lack of trained drivers.
Flinders Street Station is a prominent Melbourne landmark and meeting place. From the 1920s to the 1940s it was the world's busiest passenger station. The city has rail connections with several regional cities in the state, as well as interstate rail services to
Sydney and
Adelaide. Adelaide services depart from Melbourne's other major rail terminus,
Southern Cross Station.
The State Government's high investment in road infrastructure and the rapid growth of new suburbs lacking adequate public transport infrastructure has resulted in an increasing dependency on private cars for transport. Major highways feeding into the city include the Eastern Freeway, South Eastern Freeway and Westgate Freeway (which spans the spectacular
Westgate Bridge).
The
Port of Melbourne is Australia's largest container and general cargo port.
Melbourne Airport is the nation's second busiest.
Station Pier in
Port Phillip Bay handles
cruise ships and the
Spirit of Tasmania ferries which cross
Bass Strait to
Tasmania.
Melbourne has four significant airports.
Melbourne Airport Melbourne International Airport located at Tullamarine is the city's main international and domestic (
VirginBlue and Qantas) gateway.
Avalon Airport, located between Melbourne and
Geelong, is the main hub of
Jetstar, a
low cost carrier low cost airline owned by
QANTAS, and is also used as a freight and maintenance facility.
Moorabbin Airport is a significant
general aviation airport in the city's south east.
Essendon Airport, which was once the city's main airport before the construction of Tullamarine, handles general aviation and some cargo flights, and is the base of the
Victoria Police air wing and
air ambulance.
Landmarks and tourist information
Image:Melbourne war memorial.jpg Shrine of Remembrance.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|180px|The [[Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne's largest war memorial..html" title="Meaning of right|180px|The [[Shrine of Remembrance">thumb|right|180px|The [[Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne's largest war memorial.">right|180px|The [[Shrine of Remembrance">thumb|right|180px|The [[Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne's largest war memorial.
{{main|Melbourne tourism}}
Melbourne attracts large numbers of
Tourism tourists. The city's tourism information centre is located at
Federation Square. The
Fitzroy Gardens in East Melbourne has many attractions including
Captain Cook's Cottage. Along
St Kilda Road, Melbourne St Kilda Road there are many cultural attractions, including the
National Gallery of Victoria, the
Shrine of Remembrance,
King's Domain, Melbourne King's Domain and the
Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the
The Arts Centre (Melbourne) Arts Centre, and
Victoria Barracks.
Southbank on the southern bank of the
Yarra River attracts locals and tourists alike for its mix of dining, shopping and recreational facilities. The
Crown Casino entertainment complex can also be found in the
Southbank, Victoria Southbank precinct. North of the Central Business District is home the
Royal Exhibition Building and
Carlton Gardens, the University precinct, Royal
Melbourne Zoo, and
Melbourne General Cemetary.
There are many
tall buildings in Melbourne that include
Eureka Tower (300m above street level) and the
Rialto Towers (251m above street level). Both buildings feature observation decks and facilities for hosting tourists.
Melbourne hosts a large number of spectator sports. Melbourne's best-known sporting events are the
Australian Grand Prix Australian F1 Grand Prix, numerous international
Cricket matches, the
Australian Football League Grand Final and the
Spring Racing Carnival which culminates with the running of the
Melbourne Cup horse race at
Flemington. Melbourne will host the
Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Melbourne's
restaurants are numerous, and are generally of high quality and good value. Some of the best restaurants can be found in
St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda along Fitzroy Street,
South Yarra along Chapel Street,
Fitzroy along Brunswick Street,
Carlton along Lygon St,
South Melbourne along Clarendon St,
Richmond, Victoria Richmond along Bridge Rd and Victoria St and
Collingwood along Smith Street, as well as in the
Central business district CBD and
Southbank precincts. As one would expect from a city its size, Melbourne has a wide variety of pubs, bars and nightclubs, which can be found all over the metropolitan area.
There is a variety of interesting things to see outside Melbourne proper but still within a day trip of Melbourne. Some of the most popular include:
Philip Island (for
Little Penguins, time-trial bike racing and rock festivals), the
Great Ocean Road (famous for the
The Twelve Apostles, Victoria Twelve Apostles rock formations and whale-watching at
Warrnambool), Sovereign Hill (an open air museum recreating life during the Victorian goldrush) and Hanging Rock (an atmospheric volcanic formation, made famous by the book and film,
Picnic at Hanging Rock). Melbourne is also surrounded by wine-producing regions, including the
Yarra Valley,
Mornington Peninsula,
Bellarine Peninsula, and the
Macedon area.
Sister cities
Melbourne has a number of
sister city sister cities. They are:
{{commonscat|Melbourne}}
* {{flagicon|Japan}}
Osaka, Osaka Osaka,
Japan – 1978
* {{flagicon|China}}
Tianjin,
People's Republic of China China (PRC) – 1980
* {{flagicon|USA}}
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles,
United States - 1982
* {{flagicon|Greece}}
Thessaloniki,
Greece – 1984
* {{flagicon|USA}}
Boston, Massachusetts Boston,
United States – 1985
* {{flagicon|USA}}
Chicago, Illinois,
USA - 1988
* {{flagicon|Russia}}
Saint Petersburg,
Russia – 1989
* {{flagicon|Canada}}
Montreal,
Canada - 1996
* {{flagicon|Italy}}
Milan,
Italy – 2004
* {{flagicon|Sri Lanka}}
Galle,
Sri Lanka – 2005 (after the 2004 tsunami disaster Melbourne adopted Galle in order to fund the reconstruction of its cricket ground)
Notes
#{{note|liveable}} Economist Intelligence Unit (2002). [http://www.investincostarica.com/news/economist.htm Melbourne and Vancouver are the world’s best cities to live in ]. Retrieved
December 14 2005.
#{{note|gold}} {{cite news | last=Coban | first=Suzie | title=The immigration rush | date= | publisher=Special Broadcasting Service | url=http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=49}}
See also
*
List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Melbourne
*
List of notable Melburnians
*
List of Town Halls in Melbourne
*
Crime in Melbourne
*
:Category:Melbourne streets
*
List of Melbourne suburbs
*
Local Government Areas of Victoria
*
Timeline of Melbourne history
*
Melbourne tourism
*
Hook turn - driving manoeuvre that is common in the inner city area.
*
Australian architectural styles
*
Melway - the native street directory and general information source in Melbourne.
*
World's Most Livable Cities - Melbourne has twice been ranked equal first with
Vancouver.
*
List of city nicknames
External links
* {{wikitravel}}
-
City of Melbourne official site
-
Google Satellite Images
{{AustralianCapitalCities}}
{{Olympic Summer Games Host Cities}}
{{CoorHeader|37|48|50|S|144|57|47|E|type:city}}
Category:Australian capital cities
Category:Cities in Victoria
Category:Coastal cities in Australia
Category:Host cities of the Commonwealth Games
Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games
Category:Melbourne *
Category:Metropolitan areas of Australia
Category:Port cities
af:Melbourne
ar:ملبورن
bg:Мелбърн
cs:Melbourne
da:Melbourne
de:Melbourne
et:Melbourne
es:Melbourne
eo:Melburno
fa:ملبورن
fr:Melbourne
ko:멜버른
id:Melbourne
is:Melbourne
it:Melbourne
he:מלבורן
hr:Melbourne
la:Melbournum
lb:Melbourne (Australien)
lt:Melburnas
nl:Melbourne
ja:メルボルン
no:Melbourne
pl:Melbourne
pt:Melbourne
ro:Melbourne
scn:Melbourne
simple:Melbourne
sl:Melbourne
sr:Мелбурн
sh:Melbourne
fi:Melbourne
sv:Melbourne
ta:மெல�போர�ன�
vi:Melbourne
zh:墨尔本
{{ :Meetup/Melbourne/Invite}}
{{catmore}}
'''Melbourne''' is the
capital city of the
States and territories of Australia Australian State of
Victoria (Australia) Victoria.
Category:Australian capital cities
Category:Cities in Victoria
see
Portal:Australia
*** Shopping-Tip: Melbourne
